As I am waiting for a new boom end cap to come in before I can go sailing, I have been doing all the little fixings that need to be done from years of neglect from the previous owner. One of the best cleaning tips is to use a light coat of Penetrol for the black anodied aluminum and it made it look new (with exceptions of any scratches).

While cleaning and applying the Penetro to the boom, I noticed a very faded sticker on both sides for the Barber Hauler. Also, on the 21SE parts PDF it shows three clam cleats, one for the outhaul, one for the mast rotation, and the other I assume for the barber hauler. The location of the label is basically centered on the boom.

Can anyone help with the rigging of this? Pictures or diagrams would be great? I thought I understoof that the barber hauler was for shaping the jib, but now I am not sure. Does other SE owners also have this third cleat and if so how is it rigged and for what?

Good Afternoon, When I first purchased my 21SE I tried to use the factory setup and found it too much trouble to really put up with and little benefit as much as it was one more thing to deal with.If you find out something ,let me know. Spring is here.........Bill

I was reviewing all the literature that I received with the boat and actually saw a picture with lines coming from the middle of the boom to the hulls. I forgot to bring the picture to scan and post, but will do so tomorrow.

Basically it appears that maybe the position of the boom could adjust the barber hauler? Has anyone seen or have more ideas on how this may work? I guess it could be fairly easy to have a two pully rigging that would go from the boom to the windward hull then to the leeward hull in front then to jib sheet to pull out. The farther you have the boom out the farther the barber hauler would pull the jib out. You can adjust the tension on the boom cleat or release and have no affect on the jib sheets.

This system was originally tried on the 18 way, way, back. I believe the idea was to have a pair of lines that cleated to the boom and with a pulley at either end that you passed the jib sheet through. Pull the line in and it pulls the jib sheeting angle in closer to the centerline of the boat to help close the slot (presumably so you can point higher). Seems like it must have been an afterthought that didn't ever work because it's been abandoned on the 18 for a LONG time (I've never actually seen an 18 with this system installed).

I guess the designers figured they'd give it another shot on the 21 since the beam on the 21 is so wide and the jib cleats are all the way out at the hull. But the few 21s I've seen have not had this system installed either.

If you want to be able to sheet the jib more inboard on the 21, you'd probably be better off trying to set up a system like the 20 jib has (moveable jib blocks on a cable across the tramp- although that has issues too). Or look at the jib system on some other designs. If you're not into racing, you're probably better off just keeping things simple and leaving the system as is.

SRM - you got it right. After looking at the picture more closely it appears to go from the barber hauler cleat to a pulley on the boom and then to the jib sheet. This appears to be able to pull the jib sheet closer to the main and thus closing the slot. Might be worth playing with on this wide boat.

No one sailing on the ProSail circuit ever used a barber hauler. The boat is so heavy and the centerboards so ineffient that even if you get the sails right for pointing really high you will have so much leeway that it's useless. Going sideways is slow. I can't think of any set of conditions that would be right to be worth having all that stuff to deal with on this boat. Footing is ALWAYS faster on the 21.

I have been a short board windsurfer for 30 years and know what not being able to head into the wind means and this boat definitely tracks similar. If I get the jib traveler set correctly, with the two tell-tales breaking at the same time, and then trim the main to the upper tell-tale, I definitely feel I need to sail to the main tell-tale and not the jib, because I think the jib should be inboard to have the tell-tales flowing correctly. Maybe this would help this situation.

Since I am only a recreational sailer, this all doesn't matter as flying beam reaches are great!

Specse, I have a little story that might interest you. I was on Ho'okipa Beach in '83 and there were three guys out there windsurfing, or at least one was out there and the other two were on the beach. I sat down with them to talk sailing with Matt Sweitzer and Angus Chater who were spent from their sailing for the day. The guy still out on the water in 3' waves was Mike Waltz. We was on some big (for him) surfboard that he had just put the first footstraps that anyone had seen on, just sailing back and forth, in and out. I mainly talked with Angus about sailing Fireballs and Windsurfers while we watched Mike sail.

Mike finally came in and was unrigging his board. He had his truck down as close as he could get to the beach (this was before that spot became a popular hangout and before there was a LOT of traffiic on the roads there). It was a yellow Nissan (I think) pickup mostly held together with Hawaiian Surfer Auto Body Repair Technology. Duct tape and spray can paint. His hands were so cramped in claws that he couldn't undo the downhaul so he fumbled around in his truck. I didn't offer help, nor did the other two, because he hadn't said a word and we didn't know what he was doing. He came out with a knife and before we could say anything cut the downhaul line.

Later that year I saw my first real "short" board. There was a kid from Florida sailing some wave board that was not more than 7' long at the Windsurfer Western Hemisphere Championship at Isle of Palms, SC after the racing was over for the day. His name escapes me but he ended up being one of the first US Olympians in Windsurfing.

It was all memorable for me. Not calling you on it but......30 years????

Also something weird happened on these Forums. It looks like there somehow came to be two threads with the same entries except for my first response to you in "this" thread is only on one thread?????????? Somehow my response about the 21 sails ended up on the "same" thread in the Open Sailing Forum.

Last edited by Tom King on Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I sailed my first windsurfer in '79. It was definitely a dock and was not even the first Windsurfer brand one design. I still remember it was a piece of crap. A girl friend of mine had it who's dad raced lightning sailboats against me and they did not know how to sail it. I still have my first windsurfer purchased used in summer of late '80. It was the windsurfer brand one-design boarfd with mahogony wooden boom. In '82 I purchased my first Windsurfer long board with foot straps. It was Challenger model. I still have this board as well. Windsurfing was in the '84 Olympics. In '84 i bought my first shortboard, a Windsurfer Rocket 88. In '85 me and three friends jumped on a plane with all our equipment and flew to Oregon/Washington for our first taste of the Columbia River Gorge. We went for 22 years straight, but with family and kids we have not been able to make the last three years. hopefully we will be picking this vacation up again soon. Hell I even moved to the Northwest upon graduation to sail the gorge all summer.

I have a '76 Tornado that we used to sail in Tennessee when the winds were light, but I have been restoring the boat for the last 10 years (not really I have mainly tinkered with it and do not have a trailer)It is the prettiest boat I have ever seen. I is a mahagony boat that looks like a piece of furniture. Therefore, I wanted my kids to get into sailing and I just purchased a ready to sail Hobie 21 SE #031. We have been out only 6 times on the boat and have been having a great time. The kids are startng to like the speed.

It sounds like you have lots of experience with the 21 SE. I would like to talk to you about the boat. It is much better than typing....you can email me at spesce at pacland dot com.